Many years ago, sci-fi and comic book conventions weren’t the media-saturated events that they are now. In a way, they were similar, as the attendees were a collection of hardcore fans, kids and curiosity seekers. But they were held in half-hearted hotels and other cheap-to-rent spaces rather than massive convention halls. The only press they got, by and large, was in fanzines and dedicated genre mags; maybe there would be a writeup in the paper, or a piece on local news.

Conventions like that still exist, but they do so in the shadow of behemoth events like the San Diego Comic Con, which in the wake of the popularity of movies like Batman Begins and Spider-Man grew to unbelievable proportion.

Revisit the early days of the sci-fi convention scene with the trailer for Back to Space-Con, a documentary which chronicles some of the first cons, including one of the early Star Trek cons, The Red Hour Festival. There is great vintage footage in this trailer, which you can see below.

The film premiered last year, and is available on DVD via November Fire.

This feature-length documentary film tells the story of the 1970’s Bay Area Sci-Fi conventions called Space-Con. Told by the original organizers and fans. Includes celebrity interviews, costume contests and over 40 minutes of rare convention footage. See the Federation Trading Post in Berkeley and very first Star Trek convention in San Francisco. A real treat for any Star Trek or Star Wars fan. Film stars Bob Wilkins, John Stanley, Ernie Fosselius, and many more.